1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flexible car covers, and more particularly to a modular cover having attaching sections. One module covers the cab portion of a vehicle, and the other module covers the body portion of the vehicle. The cover has theft resistant anchoring members secured by closing a vehicle door or window thereover.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Motor vehicles, and particularly privately owned automobiles, are susceptible to being rendered uncomfortable and to being damaged by periodic exposure to the sun and weather. One especially vexing problem for the typical owner of a car is that when parked temporarily in the sun, the passenger compartment quickly becomes quite hot. This is very uncomfortable to passengers upon returning to the vehicle. It is also potentially damaging to the car and its contents. Plastic and leather fabrics and coverings are more rapidly aged or dried by exposure to heat or to ultraviolet light which enters the cab. Certain personal property commonly carried in cars, such as magnetic audio tapes, are also quite susceptible to damage from heat.
Other environmental hazards which are desirable to avoid include dust, dirt, rain, snow, and frost, which may accumulate on exterior vehicle surfaces, and ice formation on vehicle windows.
Motor vehicle covers have been developed to protect vehicles from these conditions. Some are full body covers, that is, which envelope or cover an entire vehicle body. Others are designed specifically to cover only the window area, since both heat and window fouling hazards impinge principally to the cab area of motor vehicles. A cover which covers the windows only, or which covers roof and windows, will be termed a cab cover. A full body cover can be awkward and unwieldy to install, unattractive, and may occupy a large amount of space when stored.
Both types of covers, full body and cab, if sufficiently small, light, and flexible as to conform to vehicle body contours and to be easily installed and removed, are susceptible to theft.
Car covers, therefore, must be designed to accommodate conflicting requirements. Many different approaches have been attempted to produce a satisfactory cover.
Modular car covers are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,209,197, issued to Moritz Fischer on Jun. 24, 1980, and 5,244,246, issued to Sidney A. Cunningham on Sept. 14, 1993. The Fischer patent discloses a two part cab cover which forms one piece by hook and loop adherence of the two parts, and which fastens to the vehicle by nipple anchors secured to the vehicle which pass through eyes formed in the cover. Cunningham provides selective covering of individual windows.
The above inventions are more limited in their scope than is the present invention, and further lack specific details employed in the latter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,839, issued to Jack S. Rosen on Oct. 26, 1982, illustrates a full body cover which is secured to the vehicle by anchors. The anchors have enlarged members entrapped within the vehicle when a door or window is closed over the tether attaching the enlarged member to the cover. The anchors of the present invention are different from those of Rosen.
Various fasteners for connecting separate parts of a car cover are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,007, issued to Riaz D. Shahrokh on Aug. 28, 1990, and French Pat. No. 1,238,286, dated Jul. 4, 1960. Although the hooks and eyes shown in these references would serve the purposes of the present invention, their precise application differs in both construction and location when incorporated into the novel car cover described herein.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.